US Air Force unveils hand-held laser gun

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

US Air Force unveils hand-held laser gun

By Michael Sirak JDW Staff Reporter
Washington, DC

The US Air Force has unveiled its first hand-held laser weapon that gives security forces a non-lethal option for controlling crowds and protecting areas like checkpoints, according to service officials.

While only in prototype form and years away from fielding, the weapon, known as the Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response (PHaSR) system, holds great promise, they said.

Upon completion of testing, one prototype will be handed over to the Department of Defense's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) and the second to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ): the law enforcement arm of the US Department of Justice. Both organisations support the programme, with the latter interested in its civil applications.

-snip-

http://www.janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/jdw/jdw051125_2_n.shtml

Note: This link leads to a non-subscriber extract of a full story. Anybody here have a premium account at Jane's?

I HAVE seen other references to this weapon system. I just can't recall where.

[papau]

1. If it puts a hole in you how is it non-lethal, and if it does not put a

hole in you and the car you are driving, how good is it really for check-points?

I swear if someone made a stink bomb projector in the form of a hand-held weapon, we'd buy it for crowd control.

And we wonder why we have a deficit.

:-(

[Ian David]

4. You shine it in someone's eyes

<snip>

The PHaSR is about the same size and weight of a fully loaded M60 machine gun - around 9 kg - but shoots a low-power beam of laser light instead of bullets. The light it generates is capable of temporarily impairing an individual's vision, much like the disorienting glare one sees when looking into the sun, said the officials.

More:
http://www.janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/jdw/jdw051125_2_n.shtml

[papau]

5. shine it in someone's eyes and stop the car coming to the check point?

I appreciate that the laser is set on only temporarily impairing an individual's vision. Perhaps as one more Crowd Control idea this makes sense.

[Ian David]

6. These guys are immune

We have to keep sunglasses out of the hands of terorists and ZZ Top.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. What's next? Photon torpedoes?

[Ian David]

3. I want one! I want one! I want one!

I will be the coolest guy at the Sci-Fi convention!